The Top 3 Policies for the US (middle east, Israel, illegal, drugs)

[Logicist027]

So since we get so many people debating politics, how about we mention some top policies that can be implemented in the US today. Start out by picking 3 and explain why those three and what they would do. Give us something concrete so you actually have to debate real decisions. I'm sure everyone gets tired of hearing only rhetoric and not policy. "Stop the Big Banks, Big Oil, Big Gov." Or even the human nature arguments - "GREED"

I'll give it a shot

1. Reform the Healthcare system

We need a better healthcare system. I would do away with the healthcare system entirely. Start from scratch because it is simply too hard to work in the web that it is now. That means repealing the ACA, Medicare, Medicaid, tax rules favoring employer-payer etc.

What would I implement? Essentially the Singapore system. I would guarantee access to catastrophic healthcare by making public hospitals non-profit. This would give them the emotional credibility from most people to do it. Then allow for wards to develop which would be regulated in order to keep the costs down. Next I would determine how much subsidies people would get by a system. Essentially the old, very sick, and very poor would get a decent subsidy depending on their need. Next I would implement mandatory health savings accounts. People would pay for their healthcare. Everyone would pay, not just the rich, everyone. Prices would be visible and clear. This would allow for people to control costs on their own and help reduce over-utilization. The economics of this policy have to work, so we would need both supply and demand to be something more decent than they are today. Finally there would be other hospitals that can be run for profit, they simply would not be subsidized by the gov. If you choose to pay completely for your care, you can go there.

I think this would reduce the cost of our healthcare system and still provide good outcomes for the vast majority of people. I also think Singapore has already shown that it can work very well for a society in terms of cost & outcomes.

2. Cut back on overseas military engagements

Japan would get a timeline to becoming fully independent militarily. We would move out of Japan and Europe. We would also pull back from the Middle East. The only nations that seem harder to leave in my opinion are Israel and South Korea. Not because I don't like the idea of letting countries do what they want and not interfering, but because we have made such a long commitment to them that leaving them would be harder.

This would allow us to not get too far entangled in international affairs esp. the Middle East. Also we could cut money without actually damaging our national security. We can still have a strong military, just not the large overseas footprint

3. Reform the justice system

I would end the drug war. All drugs would be legal and prior offenders would be pardoned so long as they had not committed violent crime. The same would go for prostitution. I would also like to reduce the amount of time that one can stay in jail without the death penalty. The death penalty would also get a lot harder to implement. The death penalty would be only for heinous crimes such as acts of terrorism or people considered to be a threat to the national security.

Why would I do these? Because I think that the notion of people spending 40+ years of jail time is over the top. After 25 years if a person cannot be changed then I doubt they will ever be changed. So people with severe and heinous crimes would be either allowed to go free after a length of time in jail, or simply we need to give people the death penalty. I'm sure some people don't like the death penalty, but in my opinion, its better than being essentially forever trapped in jail with violent criminals. If society believes that a person can never be changed, then killing them is more just and humane than torturing them with 50+ years of jail without parole. And life in prison is still essentially the death penalty, just like burying someone alive is essentially killing them.

Next I would also reduce the amount of time that a person has to be on parole. If we want to let these people out of prison, we should give them a serious chance at getting a decent job and reforming. So reducing parole and requirements for telling employers that they are a felon is a must.

I also would end for-profit jails. I think that criminal justice is a legitimate function of gov. and I do not like the keeping of inmates to be outsourced.

We essentially need to try to not make our system keep criminals in, and non-violent people out of jail. Hopefully this will lead to less abuse and over-emphasis on just punishing people to the extreme.



There are other things that I would like to do - Infrastructure reform, immigration & free trade, business regulations, education reform, tax reform, Intellectual property rules changed, but I kept it to three that way the post doesn't get too long.

Your move...

[Oldglory]

Put an end or a large dent in illegal immigration so that our economy improves, our tax coffers increase and Americans get their jobs back.

[texan2yankee]

Top three policies for the US? To me?

1. Keep qualifications for SS for 10 more years, as is.

2. Keep qualifications for Medicare for 10 more years, as is.

3. I don't care about number 3.